


the In-Between Moments

by AnneLilian



Series: Sunless Garden Universe [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-04-04 13:18:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4139013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnneLilian/pseuds/AnneLilian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>series of one-shots. These are the moments in-between what history records.</p>
<p>Set in my Sunless Garden universe. Read that first! Oliver/Felicity-ish (will get more pronounced later on). Posted previously on FF.Net</p>
<p>Chapter 1: Felicity gets dragged into one of Oliver's messes again when he comes back from Christmas break. Hilarity ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! As a bit of an apology for being absent for so long, I wrote a little one-shot about Oliver and Felicity's time at FCA. It's pretty short, but it's a little fluffy and funny, so I hope you'll all enjoy it!
> 
> I will post more if I get inspired, so feel free to send prompts! The title comes from a quote that I read on Joseph Gordon Levitt's twitter, and since I don't know who else it might belong to, I'm going to attribute it to him: "I love the in-between moments, the unscripted, unplanned collisions of laughter. Not tainted by agenda, or tailored, just honest, and open."
> 
> This particular bit is set right after Christmas break in A Sunless Garden, so anyone who hasn't read that might want to go do that first!

"I'm sorry, let me get this straight…" Felicity said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You broke into what you thought was Tommy's house–"

"To be fair, I was drunk. Very drunk," Oliver interrupted, looking sheepish. They were in her room, which Katie had wisely vacated once it became clear that Oliver had something to confess.

Felicity glared at him. "You broke into a house, and then you, Tommy and Laurel proceeded to have a party in the Jacuzzi."

Oliver nodded. Felicity crossed her arms.

"And you did all this while you and Laurel were supposed to babysit her neighbor's cat… And because of that…?"

Oliver winced at her tone. "Yeah. My parents decided I needed to learn something about being responsible for someone else…"

"I still don't see what this has to do with me!"

Wringing his hands, Oliver looked anywhere but at her. "Well… You know how, in health class everyone has to take one of those electronic babies home?"

She was fairly sure the question was rhetorical, but he looked like he was waiting for her to acknowledge it. "Sure," she said.

"Uhm… my parents thought it was a good idea for me to join in that assignment."

Felicity narrowed her eyes. She had a feeling of where this was going, but she desperately hoped she was wrong. "And…?"

"Uhm… the teacher explained that it was an assignment meant for two people, and he wouldn't let me do it by myself, so… somehow… you got volunteered?"

"What!?" Felicity shouted. "What do you mean, I – I don't have time to take care of a fake baby! I have four AP classes, Oliver, I'm barely keeping up with the work as it is!"

He winced. "I know, and I'm sorry, I promise to do most of the work, it's just… If I get one more misdemeanor added to my record, they're going to kick out of the school, and… I kind of like it here…"

Felicity deflated. How could she stay mad at him when he was rubbing the back of his neck like that, and looking so defeated? She sighed. "Okay, fine. But I'll do my part, I shudder to think what would happen to a baby that you raised by yourself."

Oliver looked up and beamed at her. That her heart did a little flip had nothing to do with the situation. "Really? Thank you, Felicity!" he pulled her into a hug and once again her heart did a completely unrelated little jig. "You're the best!

She let herself hug him back, comfortable in his arms, even though the hug was completely platonic. "Sure thing, Oliver."

He leaned back. "You're still getting credit for it, you know, so even in the unlikely event that your brilliant mind has trouble keeping up with your other coursework, you'll still keep your GPA."

She grinned at him. "Good. Otherwise you'd have to explain to Mr Hardison why I hadn't finished my program design."

He grimaced. "Yeah, I'm going to leave the nerdy stuff to you."

Sitting back on the couch, Felicity mulled over their new assignment. "You know, our baby is going to be pretty amazing, my smarts and your looks–" And then she realized what she'd said. "Not that it would really be our baby – I mean, it's a fake baby! But even if it wasn't, it's not like I was imagining what our babies would look like, because that would be wrong – not that anything that came from you could really be wrong, but – Gah! That sounded so wrong!" she babbled, getting more flustered by the second. "Please, please stop me when I do that!"

As usual, Oliver just looked amused, and – thankfully – not overly insulted or disgusted. "It's okay. Our babies would be awesome!" he joked. Felicity rolled her eyes and bumped his shoulder.

"So what do you want to name her?" she asked.

"Name who?" He was so adorable when he was confused.

"The fake baby, Oliver," she explained with an eye-roll. "We can't just keep calling it 'baby'."

He frowned. "Who says it's a her? I was thinking Connor. I like that name."

A soft smile found its way to Felicity's lips. "It's a good name. But what if it's a girl?"

It was Oliver's turn to roll his eyes. "It's a fake baby, can't we just pick the gender?"

"Well, since I'm going to be a mom, I want to have my bases covered. I was thinking Emily for a girl and Liam for a boy."

"Liam? We're not Irish, Felicity, we're not naming our son Liam."

Felicity huffed. "Fine. Emily or Connor, then?"

Oliver grinned at her. "Okay, deal. Emily or Connor Queen."

"And who says they get to have your name? Emily and Connor Smoak sounds way better!" she protested, hands on her hips and eyes narrowed.

"I'm their dad, they should have my name! Think about it; the CEO of Queen Consolidated can hardly not have the Queen name!"

Pursing her lips, Felicity thought about that. "Oh fine. But you're going to have to make an honest woman out of me first."

And, of course, right at that moment, Katie and Cody walked in. Katie stared. "Did we miss anything?"

Felicity and Oliver looked at each other… and promptly burst out laughing. Felicity was just glad that beneath all the laughter, no one would notice her blush.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that took a whole lot longer than I thought it would... Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this! This will be the last chapter concerning the health assignment.  
> As always, I'm open to suggestions for more one-shots about our facourite Arrow couple, so feel free to review or PM me with ideas!

** Chapter 2: **

Oliver groaned. Rolling over, he cracked his eyes open and focussed on the alarm clock on his nightstand. 3 am. At this rate he wouldn’t be coherent enough the next day for his helicopter test.

As baby Connor’s mechanical scream filled his bedroom, he really wished he could follow his roommate Dean’s example and sleep over at a girl’s place.

He sighed, rolled out of bed, and got the surprisingly life-like baby out of its crib. “There, there,” he muttered sleepily, rocking it back and forth. “Come on, kid, just shut up already!” he moaned, desperation leaking into his voice. The baby had done this to him three nights in a row. And seeing as it was mainly his assignment, he and Felicity had agreed that he’d get the baby at night and they’d switch off during the day.

But enough was enough. Felicity didn’t have any plans the next day, and he was so tired he felt like bashing his head through a wall. Picking up his cell phone, he wedged it between his ear and his shoulder and proceeded to change the baby’s diaper.

Felicity picked up on the fourth ring. “Oliver?” she said sleepily, and the sound sent a strange feeling through him. “It’s… 3 am, and you woke Katie up. Why are you calling?” she asked.

Going back to rocking the baby, Oliver switched the phone to his other ear. “I need help. I’ve got a test, and Connor won’t stop crying.”

There was a pause on the other end. “I don’t hear anything,” she said hesitantly. Of course _now_ the baby had decided to behave. Oliver swore it liked Felicity more than him, but everyone just shook their heads at him. “It’s been crying all night. Dean’s temporarily moved in with his girlfriend.”

Felicity sighed and there was a rustling of sheets. He wondered – _not the time, Queen,_ his mind chided him. “Okay, fine, I’ll see you in a minute. But if I get caught I’m telling them you threatened me,” she said grouchily, and hung up.

Oliver grinned. Had the test been for any subject other than business, he would have just winged it, but he really wanted to ace this one, to prove to his dad that he could. And Felicity was coming to pick up the baby. Even if Oliver hadn’t had a test, a good night’s sleep sounded amazing right about now.

It didn’t take long until a soft knock sounded on his door. Or, really, it didn’t sound very loud, because Connor was wailing again. He quickly dashed over, trying not to jostle the baby too much. “Thank god you’re here.”

Felicity raised a sleepy eyebrow. “Not usually how people greet me, but okay. By the way, you owe that guard that’s stationed at your building. I promised him you’d bribe him later,” she said, darting inside and shrugging off her coat. She was still in her flannel pyjamas. Even as sleep-deprived as he was, Oliver could still appreciate the little Iron man prints on it.

Felicity followed his gaze and blushed, but didn’t comment on it. Oliver could just imagine her saying that she didn’t need to explain her choice in sleepwear to him. Instead, she reached out and gently took the baby from him. “What have you been doing to my poor Emily?” she scolded gently, her attention completely on the robot baby.

Oliver pulled up his nose. “It’s obviously a boy, it’s Connor!” he protested – quietly, because the robot-baby had finally decided to stop crying. “And I haven’t been doing anything. I bet they just put the setting on high or something.

Felicity rolled her eyes and sat down gently on his couch. “I didn’t see anything when I changed her diaper earlier, ergo, it’s a girl. Now sit down, I want to see how you’re holding her.”

Gingerly, Oliver sat down next to her, and allowed her to place the baby in his arms. Naturally, it started crying again. “I’m going to get an F, I can feel it…” he mumbled to himself, but Felicity just ignored him.

“Okay, first of all, you need to support her head, like this,” she said, adjusting his hold on the baby. It felt slightly uncomfortable, but not too bad. “And hold her closer to you, babies calm down when they hear your heartbeat.”

Slowly but surely, the babies cries subsided, replaced by soft breathing that was far too regular to be real. Oliver felt relieved, and kind of proud at the same time.

Felicity was smiling at him, and there was something in her eyes that he couldn’t really identify, but it was… nice. “Reminds me of when Thea was born,” he whispered eventually.

Felicity seemed to be shaken out of her train of thought. “Oh?” she said.

Smiling down at Connor – or Emily or whatever – he remembered what it was like to hold his little sister for the first time. “She was so fussy, my parents wouldn’t let me hold her if I wasn’t sitting down, and even then they thought it was too dangerous. Our nanny, Raisa, she’d let me do it sometimes if mom and dad weren’t home.”

Felicity chuckled lightly. “I can imagine Thea being a fussy baby.”

“So how are you so good at this?” he asked curiously.

She shrugged. “Babysitting. There weren’t a lot of other jobs for kids like me to do where I lived, so I got a lot of experience early on. I’d have to watch several kids at once, often enough that I learned quickly. I started when I was eight, so I’ve seen my fair share of babies. Almost makes me not want to have any of my own.”

“Really?” Oliver asked, surprised. He’d pegged Felicity as someone who’d want to get a career first, but still have a family as well. There was so much he still didn’t know about her…

“I said almost.” She replied wryly. “Though I’m not really sure, seeing what my mom goes through… I don’t know. It’s not really a decision I need to make right away, is it?”

Oliver wasn’t really sure what to say to that, so he just kept quiet, turning his attention back to the fake baby he was holding. It was quiet now, and Oliver thought it might not be the spawn of hell after all. “We should put her to bed while she’s still sleeping,” he whispered.

Felicity grinned at him. “Her, huh? I told you it was a girl!” She held out her hands, but Oliver ignored them. Getting up, he walked over to the crib next to his bed. Tucking her in, he couldn’t help but notice the domesticity of the whole situation. Felicity was hovering at his shoulder, making sure he didn’t mess up, while he settled the blanket over the baby’s torso. It struck him that his own parents had probably been in the exact same situation before, only with a real baby and a wedding band around their finger.

He shook his head. Thinking about this was not helping.

“So what’s this test that you’re so worried about?” Felicity asked quietly, sinking back down onto the couch. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the back, clearly exhausted.

“Helicopter test. If it was anything else, I might try to wing it, but… I kind of need to keep my wits about me with this one,” he explained, mirroring her position on the couch.

“Hmm… I’m sure you’ll do–” she was interrupted by a huge yawn, “great, Oliver.”

“Hmm…” Oliver was so tired. Maybe he could just… take a little… nap…

/*/

**Katie POV**

When Katie woke up the next morning to find her best friend’s bed empty, she just rolled her eyes and was grateful she had the bathroom to herself. She did send a text to make sure Felicity wouldn’t miss breakfast, though.

_Hope Oliver didn’t keep u up all nite ;) if ur planning on having breakfast u better get ur butt over here! X_

She got a reply a minute later.

_Save me a seat, I’m on baby duty… -_-_

Katie actually laughed at that. She wondered briefly if those two realized that they were practically dating already. Then she shook her head. If there was anyone at this school who was more oblivious than those two, she had yet to meet them.

She just hoped that all this wouldn’t end badly for Felicity, because it was obvious that the girl had completely lost her heart to that boy, and he didn’t exactly have a good track record…


	3. Thea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea deals with the loss of her brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm a terrible person. I posted this a while ago on ff . net but forgot to put it on here, I'm so sorry!  
> I hope you like it!

Her tears had dried up a long time ago.

People still expected her to cry of course, so she’d tried to shed some fake tears, but it was no use. Any other day of the year, she’d have no problem, but on this day, she didn’t even feel sad. She just felt numb.

Thea Queen was fourteen and was staring out onto the rainy lawn, ignoring the countless people behind her who had come to the memorial.

Like she needed a gathering like this to remember her father and brother. It was a stab to her chest every day for the past year since they’d been lost at sea. Every day she’d had to hold back a sob at some point, because someone mentioned something that reminded her of her dead family. She’d even had to sell her horse, because she couldn’t come within ten feet of Snowfoot without breaking down into a crying mess.

But not today. Today, all she could think about was that the weather was such a cliché.

She was vaguely aware that someone was trying to talk to her, probably her mother or Walter – who had been spending more and more time at the house lately – but eventually, they went away. They always did. No one wanted to be ignored by a damaged teenager.

But eventually, the numbness receded, as it always did, and Thea could feel her eyes start burning. She hated that feeling, hated that the sanctuary of being numb was going away, and that there was nothing she could do about it.

“Thea?”

A voice cut through her thoughts, interrupting her efforts to avoid starting to cry. She looked up.

Raisa stood there, looking older, but no less motherly and concerned. This was what she had needed from her own mother. What she had gotten a year ago was a non-presence behind a locked door that didn’t so much as show her face for two months.

“Miss Thea, I found something that… I think you should have,” the maid said with a thick accent.

Thea blinked, letting the words penetrate the fog that was still in her mind. Slowly, she nodded.

Raisa took one of Thea’s hands and placed something in it. For a moment, Thea couldn’t see what it was, but then, she picked it up with her other hand and let it dangle from her fingers. It was a charm bracelet with only one charm on it. A little angel, holding a golden heart, and covered in little diamonds.

Thea lost the fight against her tears as she remembered sitting on a plane bound for Gotham with Oliver. He’d given it to her as an early Christmas present, and she’d loved it. She had wanted to add other charms, but could never find any that fit with the angel, so eventually she’d just given up. The day she’d lost it, she’d been inconsolable, but Oliver had said that just because the angel wasn’t there anymore, didn’t mean that he wasn’t still watching out for her.

When her sight became too blurry to make out the bracelet, Thea shot up from her seat and raced away. She just had to get away, she need to… she had to…

Her feet were wet.

Looking down, Thea realized that in her mad dash, she must have lost her flats, and was now standing on the wet grass barefoot.

She didn’t need to look up to realize where her feet had taken her. It was where she always went when things became too much.

“Ollie,” she rasped. She hadn’t said anything for two days, and her voice was raw from disuse. “I miss you,” she whispered, not bothering to wipe away the tears that were now mixing with the rain. She sank down onto her knees, uncaring that her dress would probably be ruined now. “It’s not fair. You promised.” She clutched the bracelet to her chest. “You promised you’d always be there, that you’d always watch out for me…” Her voice was growing steadily louder. “But you left. How could you leave!” she screamed. “You promised!” Thea slammed her fists into the cold, wet ground.

For a few moments, which felt like hours, she just sat there, trying to breathe, trying to survive through this torrent of pain and heartbreak.

But eventually, she became aware of the pain of clenching the angel in her fist. When she opened her hand, she noticed the indent it had made on her skin and felt her breathing settle.

“You were such a sap,” she whispered, staring at the angel. “I mean, I was 8, I was supposed to like girly stuff like that, but what 17 year old even thinks of giving their sister a tiny little angel?” she said with a breathy little chuckle, followed by a sigh. “You were always there for me, always shielding me from everything… I guess I should thank you for that.”

Another chuckle found its way out. “You know, Tommy’s sort of been trying to take over your role as big brother. But he also wants to be the ‘cool’ brother, so he’s stuck somewhere between overprotective and getting me into trouble,” she said, thinking about the other boy fondly. “Just last week, he got me into this party, only to realize that you’d probably kill him for it, so then he followed me around and kept steering me away from the alcohol and bad influences.”

Thea settled into a more comfortable position and closed her eyes, letting the gentle rain soothe her red and irritated eyes.

And just like that, she could breathe again, even though it had felt like she hadn’t been able to since she’d been told that the Gambit had gone down.

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter is a little short, and that's not likely to change for the others (though you know me, I never know what I'm doing, so who knows?)  
> Anyway, tell me what you think!


End file.
